The new Eliminator III will retail for about $1,500. (PoliceOne Image)

The optic has in it a tiny computer that contains detailed specs for a variety of cartridges, bullet grains, manufacturers, and whatnot, so once you input the cartridge you’re shooting, you simply to put the crosshairs on your target, at which point the laser gets your range and the on-board computer calculates the drop for you. A red dot appears on the reticle, indicating your aiming point.

After getting a quick précis on the optic and the rifle from one of the Burris folks manning the tent, I sat behind it and chose the target farthest away from me. I’d love to say I nailed it on the first attempt, but a 10-mile-per-hour, left-to-right crosswind put me just inches off target at four o’clock. I made the correction and made the very next attempt — the longest shot I’ve ever made in my life — a 960-meter shot.

Potential Police Application?I didn’t hang around to congratulate myself though. I kept moving down the line to other vendors I’d wanted to check out, but made a mental note to pay a visit to the Burris booth the following day. It was there I learned that the Eliminator III — which is expected to be available in June 2012 — will sport some additional features that may make the optic worth consideration for the law enforcement market.

First and foremost, the computer will be able to calculate the drop at any magnification setting. This is significant because the Eliminator II will only perform this little act of computerized magic at the highest setting. Furthermore, the new version hitting the market will also enable the operator to input windage information, and the computer will feed back your left-to-right compensation based on values stored in the optic’s memory based on a 10-MPH crosswind.

The windage compensation is not completely automated, so there remains some thinking on the part of the operator. If you have a five mile-per-hour wind, for example, you’ll want to account for (and aim at) half the dot values given to you by the computer.

Granted, most long-range shots taken by a law enforcement officer are well below 100 meters, but the immediate availability of the drop and windage information even on the lowest magnification setting will undoubtedly be of interest to certain police shooters.

This is not the optic for people who love their tables, but for quickly getting on target and putting a round downrange, there is certainly some interesting upside to consider.

I’m told the new Eliminator III will retail for about $1,500.

About the author

Doug Wyllie is Editor in Chief of PoliceOne, responsible for setting the editorial direction of the website and managing the planned editorial features by our roster of expert writers. An award-winning columnist — he is the 2014 Western Publishing Association "Maggie Award" winner in the category of Best Regularly Featured Digital Edition Column — Doug has authored more than 800 feature articles and tactical tips on a wide range of topics and trends that affect the law enforcement community. Doug is a member of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), an Associate Member of the California Peace Officers' Association (CPOA), and a member of the Public Safety Writers Association (PSWA). Even in his "spare" time, he is active in his support for the law enforcement community, contributing his time and talents toward police-related charitable events as well as participating in force-on-force training, search-and-rescue training, and other scenario-based training designed to prepare cops for the fight they face every day on the street.

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